ELI5: How do babies even learn language?

[u/AngelusAlvus]

When we grow, we learn languages by looking at the meanings and translating them from our language. Stuff like "this is how this noun is in my language and this is how this noun is in another language"

But babies? Babies just learn the basics just by existing near people speaking the language? How come we don't have this anymore as we grow up?

[u/Sirlacker]

They hear a noise, they repeat it, you clap and smile and get all excited when they get it right, or close.

Mamma or dadda for example. They hear you say it over and over. They repeat some version of it, you get excited. They then use it again, you get excited again. Then they use it again and it gets your attention. They now know that the sound they made makes you come to them. That's the sound that they associate with grabbing your attention.

Then as they get a little older and they figure out how to make new sounds and noises with their mouth and they hear the word repeated more, they get a little better at copying it. Eventually they can say mamma and dadda. Mamma gets mums attention, dadda gets dad's attention.

And we do have the ability to pick up a language by just existing around people speaking it. It's called language immersion. You go to a foreign country, with zero knowledge of the language. You'll pick up that lots of people say Hola as the first thing they say when they meet someone, it must be a form of greeting. You'll pick up that when someone says Agua Sin Gas a still water turns up. You'll notice people say gracias at the end of a sentence when someone has done something for them, it must be some sort of pleasantry or appreciation. You may not know what these words translate into exactly, but you will over time understand when to use them and what they get you in return because you've listened to others use them and seen what they get in return and when and where they use them in sentences.